Plan Mapped Out for UMHS and MCCC Potential Partnership

During the March 6 Programs and Services Committee meeting of the Upper Moreland School Board, the district’s superintendent Dr. Robert Milrod further discussed the potential partnership between (UMHS) and Montgomery County Community College (MCCC).

Milrod first brought up the partnership at , in which he presented an opportunity for the district’s high school students to take MCCC credited classes and potentially graduate with an Associate’s degree.

“Dual enrollment is not anything new,” Milrod said. “What’s different is the scope.”

According to Milrod, the UMHS and MCCC partnership would allow many of the district’s high school students to take college-credited courses.

During the interim of the committee meetings, UMHS staff and administration made a few visits to MCCC. According to Milrod, the high school’s math department observed math courses at the college on Feb. 17, while Milrod and Jenny Lehman, the school district’s director of education, later met with MCCC administrative members to further discuss the partnership.

Milrod remarked that the visits were positive. He gave the impression that the visits also helped solidify the benefits of the partnership, noting that every MCCC class uses high-tech teaching tools, such as Smartboards.

“They share our desire to increase our students’ rigor,” Milrod said.

The high school’s English department is also expected to visit MCCC in the near future.

As in last month’s committee meeting, Milrod also emphasized the potential savings for parents, as UMHS students participating in the partnership would likely start college as a junior-year student.

Milrod did explain that the MCCC courses will not be paid through taxpayer money, rather it falls on the individual student to pay for the courses. According to Milrod, the cost for an MCCC course is approximately in the mid-$300 range, depending if the student travels to the MCCC Blue Bell campus or takes courses on the UMHS campus by an MCCC-accredited school district teacher. 

With such courses offered on the UMHS campus, parents may also have the option to take the courses, as some courses would be offered after the school day.

The only foreseeable cost to the school district may concern school bus transportation.

According to Milrod the next steps may be a joint discussion between UMHS and MCCC with the Pennsylvania Department of Education, to ensure the partnership’s legality. However, Milrod said that the partnership could go into effect as early as next scholastic year.

Milrod presented to the committee an overview of a participating student’s course progression in the partnership program:

9^th Grade

• All students entering freshman year will take a proficiency exam to determine if they can participate in the partnership program. According to Milrod, the exam could be the MCCC entrance exam or the Keystone Exams, which are a part of Pennsylvania high school graduate requirements.

10^th Grade

• The participating student can take one or more MCCC courses at the high school, during or after school.

11^th Grade – Semester 1

• If the student is successful, he or she may take a hybrid schedule (UMHS and MCCC) the first semester of their junior year. As upper classmen, UMHS students can choose flexible schedules. The hybrid schedule would enable a student to take MCCC courses (at UMHS or the college), and still have time for co-curriculars or a job to help pay for the MCCC courses.

11^th Grade – Semester 2

• Throughout the partnership, students will meet with their guidance counselors, either in person or remotely via e-mail correspondence to ensure that the participating student continues their success in the program. If the student proves this, their second semester junior year will give them the option to continue a hybrid schedule or a full MCCC schedule.

12^th Grade-Semester 1 and 2

• If successful, the student can take the hybrid schedule or a full MCCC schedule. According to Milrod’s outline, at least one semester (this 11^th-grade second semester or both 12^th-grade semesters) will be full time at the MCCC campus.

As an informational presentation, the committee was not asked to provide action with the partnership plan, yet. However, school board members did make positive comments about it.

“I think it’s a great idea, adds choice and academic rigor,” Duval Dougherty, school board member, said. “And, I don’t see a downside.”